Gilas Pilipinas have put themselves firmly in contention for a dream appearance at the upcoming Paris Games after opening their Olympic Qualifying Tournament with a stunning 89-80 upset of Latvia on Wednesday.
"I'm totally shocked to be sitting here in front of you guys after winning this basketball game," coach Tim Cone said in his postgame news conference. "This is not something we thought we were going to do."
Having charged to a remarkable 32-16 lead in the first quarter, Philippines never relinquished their advantage and were still 21 points ahead at the final break.
They had to survive a nervous fourth quarter which had Latvia at one point outscoring them 11-2 and threatening to mount an unlikely comeback.
Nonetheless, Gilas were able to steady the ship enough -- despite ultimately dropping the final period 24-12 -- to get their qualifying campaign off to a perfect start.
The triumph marked the first time Philippines have beaten an European team in 64 years as they look to end a 52-year wait to return to the Olympic men's basketball tournament.
"Anytime you can get to the international arena and have success, that's a huge feather in your cap," Cone said. "This is a big huge step for us to be able to play a Latvia team at home, and go at them face-to-face, and come out with a win. It's amazing, it's amazing for us."
Justin Brownlee led the way for Philippines with 26 points and nine rebounds -- both team-high tallies -- while Kai Sotto was also a handy contributor with 18 and eight respectively.
The victory was all the more impressive considering Latvia -- who are also enjoying home advantage at this particular OQT in Riga -- currently sit 6th in the FIBA world rankings, even if they are without Boston Celtics star and newly-crowned NBA champion Kristaps Porziņģis due to injury.
Philippines are next in action on Thursday when they take on Georgia, who suffered an 83-55 loss to the Latvians on Tuesday.
The top two teams in each of the two groups in each of the OQTs will advance to the semifinals and then final, with only one team capable of booking a ticket to Paris.
Despite Wednesday's shock defeat, Latvia are guaranteed a semifinal berth given their point differential of +19 cannot be bettered by both the other Group A teams, in the event of a Gilas loss to Georgia that will see all three teams finish level on three points.
Over in Group B, Montenegro are currently leading the way -- a point ahead of Brazil and two in front of Cameroon, with the latter two teams facing off on Thursday as well.
Gilas could still reach the final four even if they drop Thursday's game to the Georgians, provided they can avoid a 37-point turnaround in the standings.
"We're not here just to win one game," Cone said. "We really want to try to get to the finals and see what happens if we get to the finals. That's really the goal."